Persona 3: A Hunter Not Unbeknownst
by Clintonificent
Summary: Iwatodai...has changed. No longer are there smiles and bright lights on every street, but now hollow husks of men roam in a waking sleep under the eye of the jaded glass Moon. It all changed however, when one hollow cipher and his sister presented the ultimate gift to the world: a reason to live. The price of Life, however, proves stupendously steep. A novelization of Persona 3.
1. Of Our Hero's Journey's Genesis

Time never waits.  
>It delivers all equally to the same end.<p>

You, who wish to safeguard the future,  
>however limited it may be...<p>

You will be given one year;

go forth without falter,  
>with your heart as your guide…<p>

_6 APRIL 2009 19:30_

_SHHHHHHH_

_SHHHHHHHH_

The water in the bathroom sink runs like a waterfall.

So does the sweat on the young adolescent girl's face.

She's sitting on the floor of that very bathroom, bright pink clothes dyed and scented with the immense saturation of sweat, with a gun pressed against her forehead.

Her thumbs wrap around the trigger.

Her breaths quicken ever so….quicker.

_The sweat won't stop pouring…_

SHHHHHHHHHH

The not-so-silent ambience of the water crescendos as water begins to spill over the sides.

Her mind tells her to hurry up, and that she _can_ pull the trigger.

But her body says otherwise, as it convulses in terror at the notion of pulling that trigger.

The convulsions become far too strong for her mind, body, and spirit to handle, and she drops the gun, her breaths slow to a normal tempo, her skin stops breeding new beads of teenage sweat, and she lays her head back against the sink.

The drops of water spill on her face.

But she's far too exhausted to notice.

SHHHHHHHHHHHHH

_6 APRIL 2009 23:48 _

_Dreamless dorm, ticking clock_

_I walk away from the soundless room_

_Windless night, moonlight melts_

_My ghostly shadow to the lukewarm gloom_

_Nightly dance of bleeding swords_

_Reminds me that I still live_

_I will burn my dread_

_I once ran away from the god of fear_

_And he chained me to despair_

_Burn my dread_

_I'll break the chain_

_And run till I see the sunlight again_

_I'll lift my face and run to the sunlight_

_This damn song again….._

The song continued for a seemingly endless period of time, while I looked out the train windows. A beautiful skyline whizzed by me at what seemed to be a million kilometres per hour.

_Iwatodai City…_

_A city of enchanting dreams and haunting memories. _

I stared at my reflection in the pale glass train window. The figure that peered back at me was a skinny and frail young man of average height wearing a Gekkoukan High School uniform with headphones in his ears. The face was a pale face that seemed incredibly ambivalent to all that was happening around him, and the eyes were dull, empty bluish-grey eyes, having seen their fair share of dread of misery over the years.

Those who know me (which amounts to a very little sum of people), know me by the name of Makoto Yuki. I am seventeen years of age, an age filled with shifting emotions and awkward adolescence. I lived here in Iwatodai for the first ten years of our lives, before our parents died in a fatal car accident. I still remember that day clearly. I almost perished just like them. There were several odd and peculiar things that happened that night, but I cannot seem to put my finger on what those things were.

My twin sister, Hamuko, slept on my shoulder. In her ears were a pair red earphones, mirroring mine. She wore a Gekkoukan High School uniform, just like me, and had her brilliant auburn hair tied in an eloquent whatever-I-don't-know-girl-hairstyles-thing, with barrettes spelling out the Roman numerals "XXII". It was always her lucky number, as our late parents married at the age of twenty-two. She always loved our family, just as I did. Instead of cursing the earth and walking alone, which was and still is my planned way of continuing on with life, she always honored the fallen ones and marched on with her head held high, even though she was of small stature and frail heart. To this day, I still admire that quality in her. This persona was given away through her eyes, which burned a brilliant hue of red, the opposite of my dull, bluish-grey eyes. It's strange how our respective personalities can basically be spelled out just through our appearances.

We were heading towards Iwatodai Dormitory, in order to prepare for our first day of our second year of high school. We were to go to Gekkoukan High School, a school of which we were wearing our school uniforms already, for our stay here in Iwatodai, however slight a time that might be. We, as twin siblings moved from relative to relative, country to country, horrible experience and harsh society to horrible experience and harsh society.

However, all the praise I gave her did not change the fact that her awkward position of cuddling me on the train ride gave me sores all over my body. _How annoying,_ I contemplated to myself, as I vainly attempted to sleep by leaning my head against the pale glass window of the train car, flattening my hair. The train jolted violently as we passed what seemed to be a dilapidated section of track, and I grunted and grimaced from a deep, blunt pain in my temple, as my skull lifted for a brief moment from the car, and then proceeded to slam again into the window.

My headphones fell out just as the pandemonium occurred and "Burn My Dread"

transitioned into some obscure pop track.

"_Urgh!"_

Hamuko shook ever so softly and woke from her highly irritating and uncomfortable slumber (Well, at least for me.). She looked at me with a glint of concern in those eyes. The red irises had shots of bloodshot fatigue stemming from the center of her eye. It looks like a thunderstorm in her eyes.

"You all right, _oniichan_?"

I came out of our mother's womb, like literally twenty seconds before she did, so she says I'm like a big brother to her. Well, after all, I did take care of her after Mom and Dad died, so I guess she's in the right.

She was still in that stupid, disconcerting position on my shoulder.

Gods, I swear I have tendonitis in that shoulder now. And a concussion.

"I'm fine, Hamuko." I muttered under my excruciating breath as I, as calmly and politely as humanly possible, shoved her head off of my shoulder. She let out a long, extremely high-pitched yawn as she checked her phone for the time.

_23:57_

Suddenly, like a stage play cue, exactly as she opened her phone, the announcer announced in his extremely irritating announce-y voice:

"NEXT STOP: IWATODAI. IWATODAI."

We began to pack up our things as us, and several others, stood up slowly, shook out limbs which hadn't seen action in several exhaustingly long hours, and clumsily paced our way to the train's exit.

We stood outside the train on that night.

An impenetrable black curtain of night sky loomed above us.

An immensely large gibbous moon stared its lonely stare at the earth, it's translucent white body absorbing beauty from the night sky and the eyes that perceive it, like a jealous thief.

"We should probably start heading to the dorm, _oniichan_." Hamuko stated. Even in her highly fatigued state, she always was so energetic and full of life.

"You're probably right. Let's go, Hamuko."

However, as soon as we could begin ambulating to our destination, a curtain of green clouds, in its immense stealth and depth, swept over the city, encapsulating all of Iwatodai in its mysterious jade majesty. The moon became of the same hue. Like the gods were waving their hands over the entire world, all the power in the city went out in a flash.

But that was not the most startling occurrence of this transformed night.

All the people in this bustling train station became imprisoned in jet black coffins with a tinge of red on the outside.

Everyone but us, shielded by black.

That was not the first of many nights of terror. We encountered it every night in America, just at a different time. We forgot the time zone shift. However, that fact did not make the happening any less horrifying.

Hamuko let out a scream that pierced the midnight, as I reacted quickly and embraced her in a protective hug.

"_Aaahhhhh_!"

"Calm down, Hamuko! Let's just keep moving! This happened every night. Different time zones, that's all!"

With that reassuring fact, she seemed to calm herself a little. She was still shivering.

I would be lying if I wasn't either.

"You're right, oniichan. But can we please hurry? To someplace safe, maybe?"

We walked slowly to the dormitory, her arms still embracing me in her perpetual spook.

After what seemed like an eternity, we finally made it to the quaint building.

While it was dark and gloomy outside, we could still make out the fancy, gargantuan dormitory building. Emblazoned above the double front doors were the letters "IWATODAI DORMITORY."

The doors were quite surprisingly unlocked, and we walked in the door. Hamuko finally let go of me.

Upon entering the dormitory, we could instantly see, even with only the faint brilliance of the candle on the reception desk, that this was a high-quality dorm, with couches, TV sets, tables a-plenty. At least we would be staying in someplace nice.

However, that speculation was brought to a halt with the startling sight of a boy in the darkness. The boy wore what seemed to be tattered prison clothes. He had blue hair and faint bluish-grey eyes, just like myself. The resemblance could not go unnoticed. Before Hamuko or I could speak, we were greeted by the odd, mysterious boy.

"You're late. I've been waiting a long time for you."

_Gods, even the voice sounds strangely similar to my own._

Before I could respond, the boy snapped his fingers, and just like magic, a thick, tattered red book appeared on the reception desk. We looked at him with a look of bewilderment and a tinge of fear.

"Now if you want to proceed, please sign your name there. It's a contract. Don't worry, all it says is that you'll accept full responsibility for your actions. You know, _the usual stuff._"

I was about to ask him what the hell was going on and how in the hell it was considered _usual_, but the book violently flipped open and shut me up. Hamuko has remained silent this entire time. When I peered into the contract, I found that all it said were the words

"_I chooseth this fate of mine own free will."_

Thinking why the hell not, we signed the contract with our names. However, we were still very skeptical.

"No one can escape time. It delivers us all to the same end. You can't plug your ears and cover your eyes." The boy said, and then proceeded to take the contract from my hands. It then, much to our horror and confusion, vanished into thin air.

"And so it begins." The boy chuckled. He disappears as well.

Before I can promptly ask Hamuko what the hell was going on, a voice shouted, in its seeming surprise and terror, the words:

"Who's there?"

Those words, and the shouting tone that clothed them, made us freeze in place.

The source of those words came down the wooden staircase. It was a beautiful young woman clad in brilliant pink sweater and short black skirt, as well as leggings of the same color. She had short light-brown hair and a choker with a bright red heart shape emblazoned on it. In her soft brown eyes was a glint of fear and worry.

"_Konbanwa, _we-" I started, but before I could finish my greeting, she reached for a part of her I did not even notice.

A gun in a holster on her thigh.

I didn't really care and wasn't scared of her, but Hamuko was terrified. She clenched my hand and prepared for the inevitable-

"_Takeba, wait!"_

All three of us turned around and saw a stately young woman, barely older than us, with deep wine-red hair and elegant clothing coming down the stairs. She seemed unfazed by the situation, much like myself, and quickly stepped in. A sharp noise resonated through the stifling air and the power came back on.

The stately woman walked towards us three.

"I didn't think you'd arrive so late. My name is Mitsuru Kirijo. I'm one of the students who live at this dorm."

Her voice was as elegant as her appearance. The brunette girl in pink clothing asked,

"Who are they?"

Her voice was as beautiful as she was. Before Hamuko or I could answer, Mitsuru Kirijo answered for us.

"Makoto and Hamuko Yuki. Transfer students. It was a last minute decision to assign both of them here. Makoto will eventually be moved to a room in the boy's dorm."

Miss Pink Girl had a worried look on her face.

"...Is it okay for him to be here?"

Mitsuru had a look of contemplation in her piercing eyes.

"I guess we'll see…."

She turned to me.

"This is Yukari Takeba. She'll be a junior this spring, just like you."

The look of worry on Miss Pink Girl's face turned to a look of nervousness on Yukari Takeba's face.

"...Hey."

The glint of fear in Hamuko and I's eyes turned to warm, welcoming eyes.

"Nice to meet you." I said, bowing to Yukari.

However, her nervous countenance didn't change.

"...Y-yeah, nice to meet you too….."

I thought Hamuko would greet her as well, but she seemed to have different plans. She was always much more direct than I was.

"Why do you have a gun?"

Yukari was a bit surprised and fidgety about Hamuko's blunt question.

"Um, well, it's sorta like a hobby….Well, not a hobby, but-"

Mitsuru calmly interrupted her ramble.

"You know how it is these days…. it's for self-defense. It's not a real gun, of course."

Despite being confused by Mitsuru's statement, I continued the conversation.

"Is this the girl's dorm?"

"No, it's not, but... Umm, how should I explain it...?" Yukari answered, bewildered.

"Unlike the other buildings, this one is co-ed. It's not your typical dorm, though. I'll explain it to you later when I have the chance." Mitsuru explained.

_Not typical? How? Is it because of that boy?_

Hamuko then promptly let out her signature girly yawn, a signal for Mitsuru to send us off to our rooms.

"It's getting late, so you should get some rest. Makoto, your room is on the second floor, at the end of the hallway. Your things should already be there. Hamuko, I'll show you to your dorm. You may follow me."

Hamuko looked back at me, then followed Mitsuru up the staircase. After the two disappeared into the stairwell, Yukari broke the silence.

"Oh…...I'll show you the way. Follow me."

We ascended the stairs and came out on the second-floor hallway. It seemed Hamuko's room was on a higher floor. We walked to the end of this hall, and I saw what had to be my room, on the right side next to a window peering out onto the nighttime city. I briefly peeked out and saw that the sky had turned to normal. Must have been an hour since the train station. This usually took about an hour, and then everything returned to normal.

"This is it…..pretty easy to remember, huh?...Since it's right at the end of the hall. Oh yeah, make sure you don't lose your key, or you'll never hear the end of it….any questions?"

_Oh, certainly._

"What's that contract for? Does that kid live here too?"

Yukari seemed to be wildly confused by my inquiry.

"What contract? And what kid? What are you talking about? C'mon, it's not funny."

She seemed to reply in a tone that was a mix of anger and confusion. A few seconds of awkward silence passed before she handed me the room key.

"Um….can I ask you something? On your way here from the station, was everything okay?"

It wasn't okay, but I decided to play dumb, because I knew she would get worked up if something happened. She seemed to be that kind of person.

"Yeah."

"I see….never mind, then."

She then started to slowly and tiredly walk down the hallway, away from me. But then she stopped and turned her head.

"Um…...I'm sure you have other questions, but let's save them for later, okay? Anyway, good night."

Yukari then walked out of sight. She seemed like a nice girl. I then walked into my new room, closed the door, and basically fell asleep as soon as I hit the surface of the bed.

And thus ended the night where it all began.


	2. Of Our Hero's First Day of School

**Pre-Chapter A/N: I am so sorry for the long overdue update! I've had a long time to think over this story, and I want to make a few things clear. This will be a re-telling (a novelization, if you will) of ****_Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3_**** with several elements from ****_Persona 3: FES _****and ****_Persona 3 Portable, _****such as the existence of both protagonists, named Makoto and Hamuko Yuki. I will also include several things from the anime films and the manga. Now as for original content: as I said, this is a re-telling of the game. There will be slight changes, revisions, edits, omissions, additions and expansions pertaining to people, places, events, character traits, back stories, ideas, symbolisms, order of events etc etc. based on all three editions of the game, the anime films, the manga, and of my own invention. Also, in the previous chapter, I told the tale from the first-person POV of Makoto, but from now on, I'll be using third-person limited, following Makoto's thoughts and actions. I find writing in first person incredibly difficult and awkward when it comes to fantasy work. But enough talking, let's jump straight into ****_Persona 3: A Hunter Not Unbekownst _****Chapter Two: Of Our Hero's First Day of School!**

Shattered glass.

Thumping heartbeats, felt through the stained and dilapidated wood of the quaint house in the slums of midnight New York City.

Makoto recognized this place. However, his body, his conscience, was not _there, _so to speak. It was a dream, growing in novelty and clarity. In his half-conscious state of exhausted slumber, he felt a faint sense of surprise at the fact that he could properly and vividly dream after the deep-seated exhaust from the terror and confusion of the night before. And yet this dream was so utterly _vivid_ and bore a slight air of nostalgia. His detached vision towards this virtual subconscious space went towards a mighty sight.

A small, frail boy, looking roughly the age of twelve, was laying underneath the covers of his dirtied bed. The sheets smelled and stained of aged soda, and the room was extremely dilapidated.

That boy wasn't the only one in that horrid bed in that horrid room in that horrid house.

The boy's small shoulders, graced and barely touched by a mop of dark blue hair, were being violently embraced, much like the jaws of life, by an even frailer girl, also looking of the same age. The symphony of the room's ambiance was a bitter harmony between the hiss of the ceiling fan, and the pulsating, sobbing tears of the girl. The horror hidden within her crimson eyes, burning like an impenetrable flame through the stale midnight air, giving flight to the owls and ravens of this earth, was beyond comprehension even for Makoto, marred of body and mind and robbed of peaceful dreams and calm state of consciousness.

And then both the boy and the dreaming Makoto heard what ailed the sobbing mess of a teenage girl.

"_Kutabare!_ Why won't you just return to Japan and die! That way you can finally leave me alone with all your incessant advances!" This hysterical shriek of a young woman resonated through the walls, followed by a quiet fit of tears, like a horrid ritardando in this symphony of nightmares and terrible dreams. Almost instantly, the male, the Izanagi to her Izanami, responded in a drunken slur:

"What did you say, bitch?! _Manuke, yariman! _I own you! You shall not disobey me within my own house, whether it be within America or Japan, and you will obey my solemn orders. Get on the bed, you fucking slut!"

And then the lunge occurred, followed by terrifying shrieks and bouts of angry weeping. Thumps against bone and flesh cried their scary sonnet throughout the house, ending in the room the two children attempted to sleep. But then, dead silence. The woman's voice no longer carried itself on the wind, and spoke no more.

The girl cried far harder than she ever did in her whole life, bar of course the incident that claimed the life of her own two progenitors and parents.

Why must men and women like us die? A question that has baffled even the highest of scholars and philosophers has not yet been made resolute. Why must us humans be so violent and hateful? Sinful and arrogant? Apathetic and ignorant? Why must the good die young, and the evil and insolent live for what seems like immemorial millennia? No one knows the answer to these questions of such grandeur and mystery, and instead we as men, women, and children, along with you, dear reader, must spend every waking moment of our lives pursuing our true cause, our true purpose.

That is the way it is supposed to be. But is it always like this, especially in the faltered hearts of men?

These bouts of philosophical probation were cut short by the crescendo of a girl's uncontrollable sobs.

As well as the growing footsteps of a monster, a murderer, a rapist, coming towards the room.

The footsteps grew nearer, and the tears stopped, replaced by an immense horror and insatiable suspense.

The boy protected the girl with all his might from whatever fights and flights may come.

The door flew ajar with a vicious attack, the room filled with the scent of gore, sex, and alcohol, and the man lunged forward followed by a shriek of all three persons, and-

BEEP!

The images dissolved into the sea of slumbering Makoto's unconscious, and he never saw what happened of the two.

He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt who those figures were in his nightmare.

Takes one to know one.

BEEP!

The doors of perception closed, the looking glass fogged, and Makoto returned to the light of this ephemeral world with a violent jolt.

"AH!"

7 APRIL 2009

EARLY MORNING

For the brief moment that he rose sharply out of his bed, dressed in nothing but blue underwear, coated in glistening sweat, he thought he was still enveloped in the nightmare's black grip.

But, no he was very much alive and conscious, and planned to stay that way.

His breaths were extremely quick and ragged, and Makoto felt like he was under the thrashes and woes of cardiac arrest.

And yet he was not. Strange, how our mind makes fools and cowards of us all, eh?

After putting to rest the incessant sounds of his alarm clock, Makoto put his hand on his face to cradle his throbbing skull, he felt the scars of days past and the same blue mane he peered at through the fog of the nightmare. That dream was far too real for its own worth, far too reminiscent of the Yuki twins past. Deja vu.

Removing his hand from his own face, Makoto looked out at the window opposite his bed.

A beauteous spring dawn gracing the senses. Songbirds could be heard whispering their sonnets to their lovers in the vernal dew, and Heavenly cherry blossoms stood with intense might and radiance of the carnation pink radiance. His senses were deeply confused and contorted however, still in engagement with the sights, sounds, and smells of nightmares past. But then, his thoughts were cut short by another annoying sound. The sound of knocking at Makoto's dormitory door.

A beautiful and strong voice, a sound for sore ears, made its way to the eardrums of Makoto.

"Hey! Can I come in?"

Taking a few moments to gather his composure, the bluenette still could not find his vocal cords.

"Hey! Open the door, or I'll get in trouble!"

Thinking it was best to respond to the situation and not ignore her, Makoto gathered his school uniform, donned it, and confronted the source of the sweet voice, as if he needed any confirmation. Yukari Takeba was standing before the frail body of Makoto. She wore the same thing she did the night past, a pink cardigan and heart choker over Gekkoukan school uniform. Her hair was done in the same fashion, as well. She looked at me keenly, and then continued her words, filled with charm and cheer.

"Good morning! I hope you slept okay. Mitsuru-senpai told me to walk you to school today, and I'm of course going myself, so I wouldn't mind the company, you know? It's kind of getting late, so..."

"I'm sorry, but you don't need to do this. I'm seventeen, I can find the school myself." Makoto replied, not wanting to bother himself and herself with the awkward and difficult bores of everyday conversation and companionship. Yukari must have perceived this phrase as a dick move, as she herself replied in an angered overtone,

"Oh, really. Well, you surely don't want to be late for your first day, do you? Hurry up and get ready, come on!"

She then shut the door, and allowed him to groom himself for the day ahead. He combed and patted down his unruly blue hair, and applied deodorant. He really didn't care for any other forms of high-class preening.

Following Yukari's past footsteps, Makoto made his way to the dormitory lobby.

It was quite a peculiar sight, however. Hamuko, as well as Mitsuru Kirijo, were nowhere in sight. _They must have left already_, Makoto thought. _I need to stop worrying about her_, Makoto solemnly pondered and scolded his own actions as he followed Yukari out the sturdy, fancy front doors of the building.

The duo, frail and gaunt man of blue hair and pale flesh, and strong and pretty woman of brown hair and cream flesh, waltzed together towards the destination of the train station to take them away from the crime scene of the past night's horrors and subtle atrocities. On the way, a peculiar point of conversation was reached, and by that I of course mean none at all. Makoto had his earphones in his head, listening to obscure pop and classical tunes of faded brilliance, while Yukari stared at him with eyes of worry, and at the same time, of furious contempt for his silence. She was finally the one who ended the social stalemate.

"So, do you like school?"

"I don't really care much for it." Makoto coldly replied. He really didn't. In fact, as you will see in the annals of Makoto's tale to come, he didn't care much for anything anymore. He was marred, scarred, and beaten. How could he care for anything, when he had nothing?

"Don't like all the homework, huh? Me neither. I'm in the same boat as you. I don't really like school. I just want to get out of this town and do something great. Don't you wish for that too, Makoto?" Yukari replied with gusto and ambition, and awaited on Makoto's sincere response. He shrugged his shoulders in ambivalent disinterest.

"Maybe. I don't really know."

This bout of incompatibility didn't exactly make for the best small talk, and Yukari remained silent after that.

_LATER..._

They were on the train headed towards Tatsumi Port Island, the isle whose back supported the immensity and elegance of Gekkoukan High School.

It didn't take long before the massive complex indeed came into its full fruition. A splendid, sprawling white facility, with ivory towers and cherry blossom trees standing guard over the school, looming over the criss-crossing streets and peoples beneath its shadow of splendor and magnificence came into view of our blue-haired hero and his newfound acquaintance Yukari Takeba. Yukari had beheld it before, but Makoto had not ever comprehended such a quad, immense and incomprehensible in its perfection and grandeur. Makoto's wonder had been cut short by Yukari's speech.

"So, that's it. Cool, isn't it?"

Oh, how it was cool to the young man.

The image of the two riding a train fades to them ambulating to the front doors of this school where the both shall spend their junior year together, among many other children. The walkway leading to the complex was paved with illustrious cobblestone and lined with beauteous cherry blossoms, as well as seeming gazillions of students and faculty waltzing their way up to the school. The two then came to the immense front gates of this colossal ivory campus.

Yukari ended her strong and confident stride that Makoto had an inkling of admiration for, and stopped with him outside the gate. She took a deep breath and began to breath out words, much like an announcer.

"Welcome to Gekkoukan High School! You're going to love it here!"

_I'll be the judge of that_, Makoto quietly muttered to himself.

"What was that, Makoto-kun?"

Her inquiry of him was cut short by the stares and gossips of students around them. No doubt was in his mind that was gossip of a possible romantic relationship, as well as just plain thinking Yukari was weird for her bolsterous welcome before Makoto.

"Sorry, nothing." He broke the silence and embarassment for her. "Let's continue on. I want to see this place with mine own two eyes."

"Y-yes, right." Yukari stammered under the pressure of peering drama-seeking eyes.

_INSIDE THE SCHOOL, BEGINNING OF SCHOOL DAY_

Makoto and Yukari stood solemnly outside the shoe lockers after removing their outdoors shoes. She inquired to him,

"You're okay from here, right? You should go see your homeroom teacher now...the faculty office is right there to the left."

She then smiled a gracious smile of charm and cheer.

"And that concludes the tour! Anything else you need from me before I go?"

There was inconclusive business, actually.

"Yes, what class are you in?"

Yukari seemed taken back by my question.

"I don't know. I haven't checked."

"What about Hamuko. Is she here already?"

"I think so, probably. I'm not sure what homeroom, though."

She then smiled, waved, and walked past Makoto.

But then she turned around and continued her talk with an airing of worry in her voice.

"About last night...Don't tell anyone what you saw, okay? See you later."

And now she left permanently.

This time with not a grin of joy, but with a look of worry and fear.

Whatever could this all be about?

Shaking himself out of his stupor, he looked at the bulletin board. Great hosts of people gathered around it. Makoto assumed these were the long-awaited homeroom assignments. He then peered at the bulletin board.

He did not see his name, however.

He checked again.

Once again, he was nameless.

_What, am I ghost_?

He checked one final time, and finally saw his name emblazoned upon a piece of paper

YUKI MAKOTO, GRADE 11

HOMEROOM: 2-F

Having gathered what information he needed, Makoto began to head for the faculty office, noticing several interesting dilemmas and characters on the way. One was a short-haired, dark-skinned girl playfully arguing with a taller boy in a track suit, also of dark hair and flesh. Another was what seemed to be a student council member with a yellow sash on his arm, reading in kanji, "Disciplinary Committee", not-so-friendily arguing with a group of first-year boys and girls over a trivial school policy.

Makoto finally reached his destination, the faculty office. Even the interior of such a grandeur building Makoto could not help but smile in child-like wonder upon beholding it. Wasting no time and wanting to get the school day done and over with, he strolled his slouched way into the impeccable office. Immediately upon entering said office, he noted an extremely neat and modern layout, with papers and supplies neatly tucked away in their quaint folders. He also noticed a tall and elegant female teacher, with matching brown suit and hair, carrying a white folder in her hand. She must have noticed his silent observations, and turned around, and greeted our hero.

"Oh, _ohio gozaimasu._ Are you the new student?"

Makoto slightly nodded. _The _new student, eh? He was special, after all. The teacher looked through her quaint folder and laid eyes on a piece of paper. She began to focus her vision on it, and take mental notes.

"Yuki Makoto, eh? Brother of the other new one, Hamuko, huh? Gods, she came in to this office, quite literally jumping through the air. I've never seen such an enthusiastic young woman before. She was asking where you were, as well. But, anyhow. 11th grade, correct? Wow, you've lived in plenty of different places..."

He did not need to be reminded of his traveling tendencies. Makoto and Hamuko had traveled the world in pursuit of a person who will actually take care and love them, and not treat them like some useless heirloom and liability that they were morally obligated to half-assedly raise.

She flipped pages in her binder.

"Let's see...in 1999...that was what, ten years ago? Your parents-"

She let out a gasp of strong horror. Makoto also did not need to be reminded of this occurrence. His eyes fell from a somewhat bright gleam to dark, murky countenance, and he fixated his eyes on the perfect floor. At least the gasp was...genuine.

"I'm so sorry...I've been so busy, I didn't have time to read this beforehand. I'm Mrs. Toriumi. I teach Composition. Welcome to our school."

"Oh...thanks." Makoto replied, no longer wishing to continue this horrid train derailment of a conversation. But she just kept going.

"Have you seen the classroom assignments. You're in 2-F, just like your sister Hamuko; and that's my class. But first, we need to listen to the opening address and ceremony. Follow me to the auditorium."

Makoto then follows his new sensei to the school auditorium. He puts his earphones in, and drowns out the world around him.

_Burn my dread..._

The next thing he senses from his musical stupor is the principal on the podium. He began to speak the most pathetically boring and pointless welcoming ceremony the boy had ever seen, and he had seen very many, especially in America and Europe.

"As you begin the new school year, I'd like each of you to remember the famed proverb, 'If a job is worth doing, it's worth doing well'" The principal, who donned a brown suit over his fat and stocky body and had thick glasses covering his enormous, bug-like eyes, droned on in an unforgivable monotone. He endlessly continues.

On the edge of consciousness, I hear a male student in front of me beckon to me in a soft whisper. I remove my concealed earphones and listen.

"You came to school with Yukari Takeba this morning, right? I saw you too walking together. Hey, I have a question. Do you know if she has a boyfriend."

How the hell would he know?

"I don't know." Makoto replied in a passive fashion, and reclined once again into his position.

The speech passed in a flash, due to the wonderful symphonies of Lotus Juice and Yumi Kawamura poundng their way into Makoto Yuki's ears.

_AFTER SCHOOL_

Sitting in his desk after a horridly boring day of orientation and ice-breaking activities, which the young man politely declined to participate in, Makoto was finally free. For now.

"S'up, dude?" A voice beckoned Makoto from the other side of the 2-F classroom.

Nevermind.

He's still in the shackles of modern conversation.

Approached him was an incredibly tall and lanky young man, looking Makoto's age or possibly younger, donning a baseball cap and purple dress shirt under his school jacket, with the sleeves turned up. He wore expensive and elaborate jewelry. He had a smooth, yet gaunt countenance, much like Makoto himself. However, this man donned a slight tuft of facial hair on his chin, unlike our hero.

Feeling immensely frustrated over this day, Makoto decided to exude those pathos.

"What do you want?"

The man looked intimidated, and went on the social defensive.

"Oh, come on. Let me introduce myself, at least."

Makoto granted the tall boy in the baseball cap that much quarter, at least. He had an incredibly cocky and dramatic voice and air about him.

"My name is Junpei Iori. Nice to meet ya. I transferred here when I was in eighth grade, so I can kind of understand what it's like to be the new guy and all. See what a nice guy I am!"

Wow.

Nero would be proud.

Just when I was about to permamnently disband from this arrogant fellow, a sight for sore eyes walked its way through the classroom door. It was that familiar girl in pink Yukari Takeba, followed by an even more familiar countenance, the little sister Hamuko.

"_Onii-chan!"_

Hamuko rushed Makoto and embraced him much like a vice grip. Junpei and Yukari smiled a little, and Makoto did too, a little bit. However, Yukari's smile faded when she eyed Junpei Iori. Hamuko, sensing the tension, proceeded to leave the circle and meet her new friends for the school year, much like Makoto was meeting his.

Junpei then proceeded to annoy her as well.

"Hey, it's Yuka-tan! I didn't think we'd be in the same class again!"

Wait.

Did Junpei just say what our hero thought he said.

Okay, that's just plain ridiculous. _Yuka-tan?_

That's quite literally the worst joke Makoto has ever heard.

Hamuko was giggling off in the corner, talking ot

He was dry-heaving over himself, and then stopped himself, as Yukari breathed a sigh of deep-seated irritation, and then began to speak.

"At it again, aren't you, Junpei? I swear you'll talk to anyone if they'll listen. Did you ever think you were ever bothering someone?"

Junpei seemed annoyed and disappointed by Yukari's realistic reaction.

"I was just trying to be friendly!"

Yukari rolled her eyes, and sighed.

"If you say so."

She then turned to Makoto.

"Anyway, looks like we are in the same home room."

Feeling like a coy bastard tonight, our hero decided to go a different route of conversation.

"It must be fate."

Yukari scoffed at this remark, but did indeed have a slight blush on her small face.

"Fate? Yeah, right. Still...I'm little surprised."

Junpei waved his arms around like some sort of synchronized swimmer.

"Um, hello? Are you forgetting that I'm in this class too? By the way, I heard you two came to school together this morning. C'mon, give me the dirt!"

Yukari seemed immensely embarassed and surprised for some reason at Junpei's innocent, albeit irritating, jest. Her face flushed a crimson red, reminiscent of beauteous spring roses.

"Wh-what are you talking about? We live in the same dorm! There's nothing going on, okay?! Why are people even talking about it? Now you have me worried..."

True to her statement, she had a worried countenance, and proceeded to turn to Makoto with an inquiry.

"Hey...you didn't tell them anything about you-know-what last night, did you?"

He decided to play nice and say no.

"Uh-uh."

She sighed a sigh of great relief.

"Okay, good. Seriously, don't say anything about last night, alright?"

She said that...awfully loud.

And true to Makoto's theory, everyone was staring at Yukari in a gaze of drama and wonder. Junpei himself had a huge, shit-eating grin on his face.

Yukari noticed the heat of all those eyes staring daggers at her, and panicked.

"Wh-what?"

Junpei was the one to speak.

"L-last night?" He could barely contain his amazement.

_Yukari loses it in three, two, one..._

"W-wait a minute! Don't get the wrong idea! Just listen! I just met him yesterday, and there's absolutely nothing between us. Geez...I've gotta go. I've got something to take care of for the archery team. Boys, you better not start any rumors."

In a huff of rage and a hue of blush, she left this classroom.

Junpei could barely contain his hype.

"OH, man! Forget about it, man, this is gonna be a great year! I CAN FEEL IT!"

Little did our hero know, that while the mystery and horror would begin on the night before this one, all the friends he had ever met that have given him solace when no others would take the pain and suffering, would be inside the majestic walls of that beauteous building. It was the beginning of the cipher's transformation into something much greater.


End file.
